A family film and sporting events will dominate the movie screen at Edmond Town Hall this weekend and early next week.

Penguins of Madagascar will open Friday, April 3, at the movie theater within the historic building at 45 Main Street. It will continue until April 9.

The PG-rated film is a computer-animated comedy that was released in November by DreamWorks Animation, distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film is a spin-off of the Madagascar film series, picking up where Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted left off.

In this feature, penguins Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private (voiced by Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Conrad Vernon and Christopher Knights, respectively) join forces with North Wind, a secret interspecies task force, to stop Dr Octavius Brine and his plans of total world domination. North Wind is led by a British gray wolf named Classified (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch), while Dr Brine turns out to be a villainous and disgruntled octopus in disguise, named Dave (voiced by John Malkovich).

Evening screenings are scheduled for 7 pm Friday and Saturday, April 3-4, and Wednesday and Thursday, April 8-9. Matinees are planned for Friday and Saturday at 1 and 4 pm; and Tuesday, April 7, at 1 pm. All tickets are $2.

Sports On The Big Screen

Introduced a few weeks ago, live broadcasts of television events at the ETH Theatre began on March 19, opening day of the 2015 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament. Over 30 games were aired over two days, according to Andy Clure, a member of the ETH Board of Managers.

“With the improvements that have been made to the ETH movie theater we wanted to try opening up the big screen to more than just movies,” Mr Clue said April 1. “Sporting events seems like a natural progression and we were happy to launch with the March Madness basketball tournament.”

The board spent months looking at different options and researching different companies to find one that would be able to offer this service, he said last month.

The new offering is “basically over-the-air broadcast,” Mr Clure told The Bee in March. “One of the neatest things is, the resolution is the most up-to-date one available. It’s even better than what you can get at home.”

The live broadcasts return this weekend to celebrate the conclusion of college basketball’s annual big dance. Admission is not charged for such events, and while the public cannot bring outside refreshments in with them, the concessions stand will be open for each event.

“We expanded our snack menu to include Carminuccio’s pizza,” Mr Clure said. 

Due to the planned evening screening of Penguins of Madagascar, the 6 pm NCAA game between Michigan State’s Spartans and Duke’s Blue Devils will not be aired on the big screen, but NCAA fans can see the night’s second game. Game 2 in Indianapolis of the Final Four, between the Wisconsin Badgers and Kentucky Wildcats, will be aired live that evening. Tip-off for that game is 8:45 Saturday night.

“Come and watch a great kids movie and then stay and watch some basketball,” Mr Clure suggested April 1.

Monday will be a big day for sports fans, with airings of two Major League Baseball Opening Day games at 1 and 4.

First pitch of the early game, with the New York Yankees hosting the Toronto Blue Jays in the Bronx, will be at 1:05. The board of managers has a limited supply of NY Yankees ballcaps to share with fans that afternoon, said Mr Clure.

The second game, with the Washington Nationals hosting the New York Mets in the nation’s capital, will begin at 4:05.

The theater will remain open that evening, broadcasting the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship Game. Tip-off is 9 pm.

Fans of NCAA Women’s Basketball will also have an opportunity to enjoy the finals of that championship series on the big screen. The ETH Board of Managers has announced it will air Tuesday’s NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball National Championship Game while it is being played in Tampa, Fla. That game is scheduled to start at 8:30.

The ability to air live broadcasts on the movie screen of Edmond Town Hall is the latest addition to renovations and upgrades in recent years. The theater has had new seating, projection and sound system, and even a new screen installed.

In addition, the ballroom of the third floor Alexandria Room has been restored and repainted, a new kitchen was installed, and a bride and groom suite was put in place behind the stage. Infrastructure work, including roofing, electrical, and security monitoring, has also been done.

Initial response to the new addition has been “overwhelmingly positive,” according to Mr Clure. Comments from attendees last month included people complimenting the picture quality, saying they felt like they were right at the game when they sat in the front row, and even asking if more events like this will be done, he said.

“We enjoyed seeing new and familiar faces checking out Edmond Town Hall” during the early March Madness games,” Mr Clure said Wednesday afternoon. “Our hope it to expand on this by offering many other new and different events.”